Fans battled chilly temperatures over the weekend to see the men’s and women’s tennis teams open the 2005 season at Haggar Tennis Stadium, and the Mustang faithful were not disappointed.
The action got underway Saturday morning as the women played host to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, and the right mix of youth and experience helped pave the way to a dominating 7-1 win.
In the first doubles match of the day, senior Lynsie Jones and junior Svetlana Kouzmenko had no problem racking up an 8-1 win, setting the pace for a solid Mustang afternoon.
Sophomore Jen Chay and senior Jenny Langer also claimed an 8-1 victory over the Islanders’ pair of Lana Burton and Lauren Schmidt. Senior Allison Leuszler and freshman Maria Braniecka rounded out the doubles matches with a definitive 8-0 win.
The only SMU loss on the day came when Chay fell to Carlota Santos by the score of 6-1 and 6-4.
It was smooth sailing from there on out, however, as Jones and Leuszler each flew past their respective opponents before juniors Halley and Brooke Rambally and Sana Cortas reeled off three straight wins to put the finishing touches on a forceful victory over TAMU-CC.
In a press release, head coach Rob Howarth remarked, “We really came out and took care of business. It was the type of match where you can lose concentration, but we stayed focused and gave 100 percent.”
The women were set to hit the court again Sunday afternoon against Lamar, but the match was cancelled; Howarth explained that both teams are looking to reschedule at a later date.
This Saturday, the team will host the Sam Houston State Bearkats. The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Haggar Tennis Stadium.
While the women’s match with Lamar was cancelled, the men had no problem disposing of the Cardinals on Monday.
Senior Paul McNaughton and sophomore Federico Murgier were first to take the court in a doubles match that saw a hard-fought effort fall just short, and the Cards were on top after a 9-8 win over the pair of Ponies.
The next doubles match was full of international flavor, as senior Gwinyai Chingoka (from Harare, Zimbabwe) and sophomore Alex Skrypko (a native of Minsk, Belarus) got SMU on the right foot with an 8-6 victory. The win was followed by a terrific doubles performance by junior Peter Oredsson and freshman David Kuezer, who put the Mustangs ahead, 1-0, with an 8-2 win to round out the doubles matches.
Hot hands continued into the singles matches, as San Antonio native Elliot Engberg joined in with a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-1) over Lamar’s Christian Oliver, setting the stage for a 7-0 Mustang victory.
The Ponies did not have long to relish their season-opening win, however, as they took the court again at 2 p.m. against Centenary.
Six players from all four grade levels helped SMU to a doubles sweep over their weary opponents, as the three matches tallied a combined score of 24-3.
Singles matches provided the same successful fate for the men, as Chingoka, McNaughton, Engberg, Oredsson, Murgier and Kuezer showed no sign of fatigue against Centenary, ending a long day with a 2-0 record on the young season.
The win also upped head coach Carl Neufeld’s career record at SMU to 213-92.
“I thought we played well today,” Neufeld said in a press release. “Our depth was really able to come through and we won convincingly at the bottom of the lineup.
“Today we played a lot of good matches and came away with two victories.”
The men will be in action again on Saturday when they play host Louisiana-Lafayette at 12 p.m. at Haggar Tennis Stadium.
